This Mardi Gras Rainbow Serpent has been ten years in the making

The First Nations float always leads the Mardi Gras parade. For queer Indigenous people, it's a visibility that has historically been lacking.

The First Nations float always marches at the head of the modern Mardi Gras parade.

Years of waiting will come to an end on Saturday, as Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras makes its welcome return to its homeland on Oxford Street.

The pandemic saw the annual parade relegated to Allianz Stadium for two years, but relaxed restrictions have restored the to celebrations to their historic route.

But for Jinny-Jane Smith, this year's Mardi Gras has been even longer in the making.

The Wiradjuri Walbunja woman is a Team Leader for First Nations projects at ACON, the NSW-based gay health organisation.

Tasked with designing this year's First Nations float, Ms Smith finally had the chance to realise a long-held dream.

"So with it being World Pride, we wanted to ensure that we showcased a Dreaming story that represented not only our culture but also our connection to our queerness," she told NITV.

"The rainbow serpent is our creative spirit that created the world, and everybody kind of has a connection story to the Rainbow Serpent."

To put such a recognisable element of First Nations culture on display for the Indigenous float, which always marches at the front of the parade, Ms Smith didn't want to hold back.

"It's going to be pretty massive," she said.

"It's a 20-metre-long, inflated Rainbow Serpent ... that we're going to be carrying up the street showcasing our deadly Black queerness.

"I said many years ago, I wanted to do it. Everybody thought I was mad!"

The First Nations Mardi Gras float Rainbow Serpent under construction at the Mardi Gras workshop.

Representing community

Although ACON assists in the creation of the First Nations float, they cannot provide funding of their own: it is paid for through philanthropic donations.

"Everybody thought we couldn't do it within budget," said Ms Smith.

"I found all the solutions to how we could make this happen before I took it to community to get approval. Because this float is done with the community."

Jinny-Jane is a founding member of Blaq, a peak organisation supporting the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander queer community.

"So I have lots of connections and community relationships with community members," she told NITV.

"So then putting [the float] out on our social media to say 'This is what's going to happen. We're starting the community consultations around the float if you want to get involved, this is how you do it.'"

It's an especially celebratory year in 2023 as the annual festival coincides with World Pride, an international event highlighting queer life.

Ms Smith said it's an opportunity to put the beauty of Blak life on display to the world.

"The message that we hope we get across is just how deadly and how connected we are to our culture, and the way that intersects with our sexualities as well."

Sending a message

That intersectionality of being Blak and queer has historically been suppressed and subjugated. Ms Smith struggled to see herself reflected anywhere growing up.

"I grew up in the western suburbs. I was a stereotypical teenage mum before finding out who I really was. There wasn't anybody that I had seen that looked like me, that that was me."

She remembers clearly her first time visiting the Mardi Gras parade, and specifically the First Nations float.

"I was 16. My mum took me to Mardi Gras, and I remember thinking to myself, 'I'm gonna be there one day, I want to be on that.'"

"And that was the first time where I saw myself [thinking] 'That's where I fit in that space.'

"So for me, being a part of the float, I want to ensure that the younger people out there that 'You are seen, you are heard.'"